Sound off: West Valley's future with solar energy

This week's question: Given the downturn in the industry, is solar still a good bet for the West Valley in terms of jobs and business growth?

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The Arizona Republic will regularly ask West Valley elected officials to share their thoughts on issues.

A few years ago, solar appeared to be the growth industry of the future. Solar manufacturers moved to Goodyear, Surprise and Peoria. Now, the state's utilities are close to meeting renewable-energy requirements and fewer incentives for rooftop solar installations are available. Arizona's solar jobs appear to be in decline.

This week's question: Given the downturn in the industry, is solar still a good bet for the West Valley in terms of jobs and business growth?

Elected officials in Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Litchfield Park and Youngtown did not respond to the question.

Have a question you want answered? E-mail West Valley Editor Wyatt Buchanan at wyatt.buchanan@gannett.com.

Tom Tingle/The Republic

Peoria

Mayor Bob Barrett

"Solar manufacturing may be in a decline in the U.S., but the good news for all of us, especially in the West Valley, is that solar industry-related jobs are increasing. Arizona is leading the nation in solar jobs, only second to California.

"In places like Peoria, where the rooftops are developing and solar deployment is more of a standard practice, the more complicated work of installation and solar-systems management is on the rise. With its growth and talent, Peoria is poised to capture continued job growth created by the decline in solar-panel pricing. With its vision for a sustainable community, Peoria is leading the charge."

Jess Legaspi/jesslegasp.com

Goodyear

Mayor Georgia Lord

"I am very encouraged about the future of the solar industry in the West Valley and the state of Arizona.

"Goodyear is a solar community. We continue to have extremely high demand for rooftop solar among our residents, and I do not believe that will change.

"Emerging industries often experience fluctuations and must react to outside influences, and solar is not an exception. With challenges come new innovations, technologies and advances. We have only begun to realize the opportunities that exist with the solar industry, and I am excited to think about what we may be able to do in the future."

Surprise

Surprise

Mayor Sharon Wolcott

"Yes! The West Valley has an opportunity to build a renewable energy industry that could and should be an export industry for our region. We should be positioning ourselves as a leader in solar technology beyond 'rooftop solar.' This could include utility scale solar, electric charging stations, compactors, bio fuels, etc.

"In California, for example, drought conditions will likely press officials to move toward building desalination plants. These plants can and should be solar powered. There is no reason why that technology cannot only be developed here, but also built and exported from our region.

"The challenge is also the opportunity: look beyond the current conditions and position the West Valley to 'own' this technology and further integrate our region into the supply chain that will help meet the ever-increasing energy needs of the future."

Tolleson

Tolleson

Mayor Adolfo Gamez

"Pardon the pun, but I feel that it is too early to pull the plug on the solar industry in the Southwest Valley.

"Although we have not experienced growth of the industry as we had hoped, we should still maintain serious consideration of this emerging industry for the future of our region. The solar manufacturing industry still holds great promise for new capital investment and the growth of quality jobs.

"We should stay the course with our solar-industry-development efforts. The sun has not set on the solar industry for our region!"

The Arizona Republic will regularly ask West Valley elected officials to share their thoughts on issues.

A few years ago, solar appeared to be the growth industry of the future. Solar manufacturers moved to Goodyear, Surprise and Peoria. Now, the state's utilities are close to meeting renewable-energy requirements and fewer incentives for rooftop solar installations are available. Arizona's solar jobs appear to be in decline.

This week's question: Given the downturn in the industry, is solar still a good bet for the West Valley in terms of jobs and business growth?

Elected officials in Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Glendale, Litchfield Park and Youngtown did not respond to the question.

Have a question you want answered? E-mail West Valley Editor Wyatt Buchanan at wyatt.buchanan@gannett.com.

Peoria

"Solar manufacturing may be in a decline in the U.S., but the good news for all of us, especially in the West Valley, is that solar industry-related jobs are increasing. Arizona is leading the nation in solar jobs, only second to California.

"In places like Peoria, where the rooftops are developing and solar deployment is more of a standard practice, the more complicated work of installation and solar-systems management is on the rise. With its growth and talent, Peoria is poised to capture continued job growth created by the decline in solar-panel pricing. With its vision for a sustainable community, Peoria is leading the charge."

— Mayor Bob Barrett

Goodyear

"I am very encouraged about the future of the solar industry in the West Valley and the state of Arizona.

"Goodyear is a solar community. We continue to have extremely high demand for rooftop solar among our residents, and I do not believe that will change.

"Emerging industries often experience fluctuations and must react to outside influences, and solar is not an exception. With challenges come new innovations, technologies and advances. We have only begun to realize the opportunities that exist with the solar industry, and I am excited to think about what we may be able to do in the future."

— Mayor Georgia Lord

Surprise

"Yes! The West Valley has an opportunity to build a renewable energy industry that could and should be an export industry for our region. We should be positioning ourselves as a leader in solar technology beyond 'rooftop solar.' This could include utility scale solar, electric charging stations, compactors, bio fuels, etc.

"In California, for example, drought conditions will likely press officials to move toward building desalination plants. These plants can and should be solar powered. There is no reason why that technology cannot only be developed here, but also built and exported from our region.

"The challenge is also the opportunity: look beyond the current conditions and position the West Valley to 'own' this technology and further integrate our region into the supply chain that will help meet the ever-increasing energy needs of the future."

— Mayor Sharon Wolcott

Tolleson

"Pardon the pun, but I feel that it is too early to pull the plug on the solar industry in the Southwest Valley.

"Although we have not experienced growth of the industry as we had hoped, we should still maintain serious consideration of this emerging industry for the future of our region. The solar manufacturing industry still holds great promise for new capital investment and the growth of quality jobs.

"We should stay the course with our solar-industry-development efforts. The sun has not set on the solar industry for our region!"